Provenance
On deposit or sold to Moline, Galerie Laffitte, Paris, February 12, 1896 [according to Chicago 1994]; returned to Redon [according to Chicago 1994]; sold to Ambroise Vollard (1867-1939), Paris, December 1899 [according Chicago 1994]. Henri Petiet (1894-1980), Paris, by March 1940 [according to Wildenstein 1992]; sold to the Art Institute, 1950.
Accession Number
90324
Medium
Various charcoals, with stumping, erasing, and incising, on pale-pink wove paper with red and blue fibers altered to a golden tone
Dimensions
40.8 × 37.1 cm (16 1/8 × 14 5/8 in.)
Classification
charcoal
Credit Line
David Adler Collection
Background & Context
Background Story
Odilon Redon's Cauldron of the Sorceress (1879) is a charcoal drawing on pale-pink wove paper showing a witch's cauldron emitting mysterious vapors. The scene is rendered with Redon's characteristic atmosphere of mystery and suggestion. The pink paper gives the drawing a warm undertone.
Cultural Impact
Redon's works on colored papers demonstrate his sensitivity to the effects of colored grounds on mood.
Why It Matters
This charcoal drawing of a witch's cauldron creates an atmosphere of occult mystery.
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Then There Appears a Singular Being, Having the Head of a Man On the Body of a Fish, plate 5 of 10
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Cover-Frontispiece for the Temptation of St. Anthony
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Ophelia
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